Flashback
by Stevethebarbarian
Summary: One day, long ago, Sans the skeleton was forced to make an impossible choice. His decision would change everything.


**TL #00001. The year 914 AA.**

 _ **"Entry number seventeen. Dark... darker... yet darker. The darkness... keeps growing. The shadows cutting deeper... photon readings negative. This next experiment seems very,**_ **very** _ **... interesting.**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **What do you two think?"**_

"i dunno, doc. you sure it's safe down there?"

 _ **"Certainly not, Sans. But I have my tether, and you. Telekinesis can prove quite useful in these situations. Doctor Alphys? Any thoughts?"**_

"W-w-well, doctor, we _did_ name it the VOID for a reason. There's _nothing_ there. Not like a vacuum, vacuums have... s- _some_ things. But there... there's _nothing._ Not quantum foam, not photons, obviously, not even _concepts._ We have _no idea_ what effect that kind of exposure could have on your physiology! There's simply no way to predict it!"

"alphie's right, doc. we should really set up some more safety precautions."

 _ **"Don't**_ **worry** ** _about it, Sans! Like Alphys said, we have no way to predict the effects of the VOID, and therefore no way to protect against them._** **You guys** ** _are my failsafe. Simply pull me up if I ask for help, and everything will be fine."_**

"R-right... Natus! Interna! Are you two ready for... a-anything?"

 **"Don't worry, doctor Alphys! If anything comes our way, we'll be ready for it!"**

"That's right, Alphie. With you at the instruments, Sans right behind the portal, Natus making sure there's no interference, and me at the monitor, there's literally nothing that could go wrong!"

"you've done it now."

 _ **"Really, that's not reassuring, Sans."**_

"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny, you two. Wait. Alphys! Bring up the sensitivity on the fluctuation monitor, kay?"

"S-sure."

"Oh my _god._ Doctor! There's a massive cosmic fluctuation beginning in the VOID _right now,_ within a few thousand miles of your location. It's size is increasing exponentially as time goes on, and it could reach you in less than- _right now,_ doctor! Right now! Damn it, I warned you people! The reports _proved_ that this would happen!"

 _ **"Damn those accursed reports! You read too much into them! Don't worry about it, just activate the crank and pull me up!"**_

"R-right!"

" **The crank is working, doctor! How deep are you in there anyway?"**

 _ **"Not too far. Only a few kilometers or less!"**_

"a few _miles,_ doc? it'll take minutes to pull ya up!"

 _ **"Not to worry. I feel fine. I am experiencing a strange sensation of suction, but I wouldn't worry- aagh!"**_

"W-what was that?"

"Sensors indicate that a huge surge of energy just passed through the doctor and is now traveling up his tether!"

"that's not good. whoah! what was that?"

"T-the surge just hit the end of the line! It... It blew up the c-crank! And the... the entire structure of the room is compromised!"

"w-what?! alphie, are you ok up there?"

"Y-yeah, I'm f-fine for now! You've just got to get the doc up here!"

 **"Don't worry! I've got it!"**

"natus! what are you doing in here? you're supposed to be stopping any possible interference!"

 **"I may be muscle, but I'm not dumb muscle! What interference could there possibly be? I'm pulling up the doctor now! We can't allow any possible threat to put him in danger! He's the Underground's only hope!"**

"fine. you pull up that tether, alphys, i'm coming up there!"

"S-sans! Thank god! But you've got to get out of here! The s-structural integrity of this entire area is c-compromised, and I can't have _any_ extra w-weight up here!"

"then i've gotta get you out of here!"

"No! ... N-no. We've got to have someone at the instruments, and that's got to be me. The Doctor is in more danger than either of us. You have to pull him up."

"Sans! Get down there! NOW!"

"fine."

 _ **"My friends, since the crank is broken, and the tether seems to be too heavy for Natus to lift, I'll try to pull myself up now. The tether itself seems to be under some sort of... corruption."**_

"WHAT!?"

"what?!"

"W-what?!"

 **"WHAT?!"**

 ** _"Don't worry! It will all be OK. I'm grabbing the tether... no- OH MY GOD! My hands! What is happening to my HANDS!?"_**

"Oh my god, doctor... you _idiot..._ Are you OK?"

 _ **"MY HANDS! MY HAAAAANDS!"**_

"damn it! doc! i got you!"

 **"Thank god, you're finally doing your** ** _job,_** **Sans."**

"don't lecture _me,_ natus. i'm the doctor here, you're the lab assistant. you aren't even supposed to _be_ here."

 _ **"M-my hands... they're... I can't even understand what has happened to them. Ah... my head..."**_

"N-no! Doctor, don't touch your-"

 _ **"God, no! My eyes!"**_

"F-face..."

"doc, hang in there, and don't. touch. anything."

 _ **"Right. I don't understand how I could be such a fool. My mind seems to be slipping..."**_

 **"NOOOOOOOOOO!"**

"shut it, natus!"

"Shut it, Sans! He's just trying to help."

"B-both of you be q-quiet! You're not helping anything!"

 _ **"My god... it's spreading. Sans! The- the tether! It's going to break! Pull me up!"**_

"gotcha doc!"

"S-sans! The room! It's... it's collapsing! Everything is about to fall!"

 **"I'll get Alphys, Sans, you keep pulling up the Doctor!"**

"fine."

"No! Natus, you weigh hundreds of pounds! If you go up there, then the entire room will collapse, along with Dr Alphys!"

"i weigh like twenty pounds, i can go up there and help her!"

 **"No! The Doctor needs you down here!"**

"S-sans! Help!"

 _ **"Goddamit, no! Please, Sans, I need your help! I can feel myself slipping... everything... is so dark..."**_

"Sans, you need to pull the doctor up now! Alphys has more time, but we have no idea what's going on down there!"

"interna, I get it, but..."

"But you can't stand the doctor and you'd much rather save Alphys, eh, Sans?"

"D-don't say that, Interna! Sans you... y-you need to save the d-doctor and- oh my _god."_

"alphys! are you ok?"

" **Doctor, hang on in there!"**

"yeah doc, i've still got you!"

"..."

"doc?"

" **Doctor? DOCTOR!"**

"t-the line... there's... nothing on the other side..."

"You still have to pull him up, Sans!"

"AAAH! H-help me!"

"ok, _no._ the doc's dead, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. i'm coming, alphys!"

"Sans, if you let go, the line will... fall. Damn it! Sans! What did you do!?"

"T-thank god... ugh."

 **"Y-you... you KILLED him! You let him die!"**

"i had no _choice._ "

 **"You just DOOMED the Underground! You freak! You _freak!"_**

"Get out of here, Natus. This is _not_ the time. Oh god, Sans."

"H-he's gone... the doctor... he's gone..."

"i'm sorry. but i didn't have a choice. i did what i had to do."

"You did what was _easy,_ Sans. I'll see you tried for this. That's murder. In fact, it's _treason."_

"Y-you know ASGORE will never see it that way... S-sans... had a hard choice to make, but... he made the w-wrong choice. B-but..."

"it wasn't the wrong choice."

"Hmph. Let this be official. If King ASGORE refuses to punish you for your crimes... then I will immediately resign my position here."

"I-interna! You can't do that! With the doctor gone, we need you now more than ever!"

"Then I suppose you should have thought of that before you started screaming loud enough to get Sans to kill the Doctor to save your sorry reptilian ass. I get it. The Doctor is... _was_ hard to work with. Yeah, no, He was... an absolute intolerable bastard. And he was also smarter then all of us combined. Natus was right, Sans. The Underground is doomed. And it's _all your fault."_

"interna, don't... go. damn it."

"S-sans... she's the least of your worries right now. The... the F-followers... they'll be out for your blood."

"heh. guess i'd better leave the hotlands, eh? i allways wanted to move to snowdin some day. pap'll need some adjustments, but-"

"S-sans! Y-you can't leave m- us! We _need_ you!"

"it doesn't matter, alphys."

"W-what?"

 **"none of this matters."**


End file.
